Window cleaning devices



Aug. 30, 1966 E. SCIAMANNA WINDOW CLEANING DEVICES 4 SheetS-Sheet l INVENTOR.

fww/f AT TO R NEY Aug. 30, 1966 E, SCIAMANNA 3,2%,940

WINDOW CLEANING DEVICES Filed Oct. l, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

\ INVENTOR.

Aug 30, 1955 E. SCIAMANNA 3,268,940

WINDOW CLEANING DEVICES Fild oct. 1, 1964 4 sheets-sheet s INVENTOR. W Qgfwnn@ BY www 6L/F61,

ATTORNEY Aug. 3G, 1966 Filed oct. 1, 1964 E. SCIAMANNA WINDOW CLEANING DEVICES 4 Sheets-Sheet /L ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,268,940 WINDW CLEANING DEVICES Enzo Sciamauna, 166 W. '72nd St., New York, NSI". Filed Oct. 1, 1964, Ser. No. 400,855 6 Claims. (Ci. IS--ZSiLI This invention relates to window washers and more particularly to an integrated structure capable of washing both sides of a window simultaneously by a person 1nside the house.

A particular object of this invention is to provide a `reliable device which is easily operated Vand in which cleaning movements on the inside surface are positively and accurately transmitted to an outside surface. In this way, sufficient pressure is exerted on the outside surface to produce effective cleaning as otherwise the outside cleaner might operate too weakly and therefore ineffectively.

My device further provides regulated streams of water or other cleaning solution to both sides of the window as desired. Thus particularly soiled areas may be treated by applying more solution.

My device employs a squeegee blade which is specially shaped to reach normally inaccessible window areas as will hereinafter be made clear. Of course the blades are capable of drying as well as washing.

The invention will be further understood from the following description and drawings wherein:

FIGURE l is a side elevational view of my device as installed and ready for operation on a conventional double hung window;

FIGURE 2 is a view taken substantially along the line 22 of FIGURE l and partly broken away to show details of construction;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary view indicating how relatively inaccessible -areas are reached by the special configuration of the squeegee blade.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view taken substantially along the line 6-6 of FIGURE l; and

FIGURE 7 is a substantially `diagrammatic view illustrating the transmission system which translates vertical and rotational forces from the inside arm to the outside arm. l As an illustration of the use of my device, it is shown as applied to a double-hung window comprising the upper frame and pane 10, the lower frame and pane 11, and the sill structure 12.

As will be explained hereinafter, the device extends to about the top of the lower frame. The panes are cleaned one at a time, the upper frame being brought down after the lower pane is cleaned. The device is movable along the width of the window so that successive vertical sections may be cleaned. The body of the device is preferably formed of thin aluminum or any other sturdy material which will not make the device inconveniently heavy.

My device comprises a platform 13 which rests on the sill structure 12, leveling screws 14 being provided as indicated in FIGURE 1. Platform 13 extends from the inside of the sill structure, Linder the window, to the outside. It is further formed with an inside to outside groove in which gear rack 15 is disposed.

Secured on the upper face of platform -13 is housing 16 which contains the motion transmission mechanism. Such mechanism comprises the pulley block 17 secured to platform 13. Block 17 has two upper pulleys 18 and 19 and two lower pulleys 20 and 21. The pulleys are Cil 3258,94@ Patented August 30, 1966 ICC driven by cables or the like connected to the squeegee device which is manually actuated. The cables are disposed in vertically elongated hollow uprights 22a which enter cut-outs 23 in housing 16 and are secured to the walls thereof by pivots 24.

Uprights 22a may be rectangular in cross-section and extend up to about the top of the lower window frame.

Front upright 22 is disposed inside the house or other structure while rear upright 22a is disposed on the outside. The uprights are bodily and jointly swingable toward and away from the window in a vertical plane. Segment gear 2S is fixed to the bottom end of upright 22 by pin 25a, said gear also being penetrated by pivot pin 24. Segment gear 25 is accordingly rotated when upright 22 is swung inwardly or outwardly. This slides rack 15 and actuates the outside or rear upright 22a, as will hereinafter be described.

As an example, and merely to describe an operating model, the uprights were about 21/2 feet high, about 4 inches wide and about 2 inches deep while platform 13 was about 8" X 12".

Front face 26 and rear face 27 of the upright 22 are formed with elongated slots 28 and 29 respectively, in which slots the squeegee devices ride, as will hereinafter be explained.

Both opposing side walls 30 and 31 are formed with tracks 32 between which the rectangular carriage 33 rides, as will be hereinafter explained.

At the top of the uprights are disposed shafts 35 which carry top pulleys 36 andl 37. The cables or ropes ride around the pulleys so as to transmit manual forces from the interior moving elements Iof inner upright 22 to those of outer upright 22a.

The transmission system comprises two cable or rope systems. Thus cable 40 rides around top pulley 37 of the inner upright 22, descends and winds once around travelling pulley 41 and continues the descent toward pulley 18 in housing 16. Cable 40 then extends through groove 42 in platform 13 and thus reaches the outer upright 22a, travelling, of course, under the .slightly opened window as illustrated in FIGURE 1.

Thereafter cable 40 rides on lower pulley 45 in upright 22a, thence up to top pulley 46 in upright 22a around which it rides, thereafter winding once around the travelling pulley in upright 22a, which duplicates travelling pulley 41. Cable 40 then descends to pulley 47 of upright 22a, continues through groove 42 back to the inner upright 22 where it is joined to its other end by coil spring 48, Said spring creating tension on the cable and preventing slippage. It can be seen, therefore, that cable 40 is a closed system or circuit which winds around and actuates, or is actuated by, both travelling pulleys.

Referring to FIGURE 3, the inner squeegee comprises a downwardly offset `handle 50, a shaft or arm 51 which extends through central openings of both the carriage 33 and travelling pulley 41, and a removable squeegee bracket 52 which supports the blade 53 in conventional fashion. Blade `53 may be fabricated in the usual resilient rubber material or the like as is well known.

Carriage 313 is separated from travelling pulley 41 by a ilat washer 54 and is held on shaft 51 by retaining ring 55. Travelling pulley 41 is keyed to shaft 51 by key 56 so that manual rotation of shaft 51 will effect rotation of the pulley 41 when desired.

It will be observed that a separate cable system is disposed substantially parallel with cable All). Cable `60 rides around top pulley 36 of the inner upright `22, descends and winds once around travelling pulley 41, but in the opposite direction of cable 4i), and continues the descent toward pulley 19. Cable 60 then extends through groove 61 in platform 13 and t-hus reaches the outer up- 3 right 22a, travelling under the slightly opened window as does cable 40.

Thereafter, a cable 60 rides on lower pulley 62 in upright 22a, thence up to top pulley 63 around which it rides, thereafter winding once around the travelling pulley in upright 22a, but in the opposite direction from cable 40. To make this clearer, and referring to the travel of cable `60 in F-IGURE 7, it winds around the travelling pulley of upright 22a (not shown in FIGURE 7 because these elements duplicate those in upright 22 .shown in FIGURE 3), in a counter clockwise direction, while cable 40 winds side-by-side therewith in a clockwise direction. The same action takes place on travelling pulley 41 o-f front upright 22.

Cable 60, after winding around the travelling pulley of upright 22a, descends to pulley 64, continues through groove 61 back to the inner upright 22 where it is joined to its other end by coil spring 65. Again, therefore, the cable forms a closed circuit. v

Finally, I also provide a washing solution to be used as desired. Thus, referring to FIGURE 1, I provide a rubber bulb or syringe 70 of any conventional size. Flexible tube 71 leads therefrom `into housing 16, up upright 22 where it is coiled at 71a yso as to be extensible. It travels partly around squeegee shaft 51 (FIGURE 4) and through carriage 33 where it is offset at 71b as observed in FIGURE 3. It is then in a position to squirt water or any other cleaning solution through slot 28 of upright 22 and onto the window pane.

The washing solution is simultaneously applied to the `outside pane surface. Thus tube 711 branches off in housing 16 and extends through groove 61 of plattform 13 as `sh-own in FIGURE 2 and it then duplicates the structure of t-he tube formation shown in FIGURE 3. Accordingly, a squeeze of the bulb 70 will squirt the solution on iboth sides of the pane being cleaned.

My invention operates as follows: After properly disposing the unit in place at one side of the window structure and with the platform 1=3 under the partly opened window, the upright 22 is swung inwardly to bring the blade 53 in Contact with the inner pane surface. This will actuate segment gear 25 which will sli-de rack gear 15 disposed in inside-to-outside groove 75 in platform 13. Rack gear 15 will then actuate idler gear 76 (FIGURE 1) so as to drive outside segment gear 77 in a proper direction t-o actuate outside upright 22a in an opposite direction, the segment gear 77 substantially duplicating segment gear 25.

Thereafter handle 50 is reciprocated or drawn downwardly to clean the inside surface section, bulb 70 being squeezed as desired. This will both drive the carriage 33 between the tracks 32 and will actuate cables 40 and `60. Accordingly, both travelling pulleys will be driven in unison as above described. During this action the cables merely effect a pulling action on the travelling pulleys which will not rotate but will travel up and down. The outside squeegee device 80 will duplicate the actions of the inside, manually actuated squeegee 52.

Now, it is desirable to rotate the squeegees for any desired purpose and particularly to secure access to the inset area 81 of the outer pane which is partly obscured Ibecause the lower pane is partially lifted when the device is in operation. It will be observed in FIGURE 4 that blade 5'3 is cut away and thus narrowed at its ends 82. Accordingly, when handle 50 is twisted, i-t will rotate travelling pulley 41 which is keyed to the shaft, although carriage 33 will not rotate since a bearing-bushing 83 is employed. Pulley 41 is rotated, the cables 40 and 60 will be driven in opposite directions thereon so as to produce a differential action on the cables. Such differential action will be transmitted, of course, to the opposing squeegee. As observed in FIGURE 5, the narrowed blade end 82 Will easily enter the inset area 81 so as to clean the same.

When one vertical section of the window has been cleaned, the entire device yis slid along the sill 12 to repeat the action at a succeeding vertical area until the lower window is finished. Thereafter, that window will be raised and the other lowered whereupon the operation may be repeated.

The cables 4i) and 60 may comprise conventional metal stranded or link structures or conventional ropes.

I have shoiwn a preferred embodiment of my invention, but it is obvious that numerous changes and omissions may be made without departing from its spirit.

What is claimed is:

1. A window cleaning device for cleaning both sides of a window simultaneously, said device comprising a front upright, a rear upright, a first cleaning blade slidably mounted on said front upright for -sliding action relative thereto, a manually operated handle connected to said rst cleaning blade, a second cleaning blade slidably connected to said second upright, cable means inter-connecting said cleaner blades whereby actuation of sai-d rst cleaning blade is duplicated by said second cleaning blade, a bottom platform, each of said uprights being swingably connected to respective ends of said platform, said uprights being swingable relative to said platform in a vertical plane and in respectively opposite directions, manual swinging of said front upright in one direction automatically producing swinging of said rear upright in an opposite direction in the same vertical plane, a at rack gear on said platform, a driving arcuate gear segment on said front upright in engagement with said rack gear, a driven arcuate gear segment on said rear upright, means to drive said driven gear segment in a direction opposite to that of said driving gear segment whereby swinging action of said front upright is duplicated in an opposite direction by said rear upright.

2. A window cleaning device according to claim 1 and wherein said cable means comprises two closed circuits, each of said circuits extending the length of both uprights, a vertically slidable pulley in each upright, and each closed circuit being wrapped around both of said slidable pulleys, said cleaning blade arms being respectively connected to said slidable pulleys.

3. A window cleaning device according to claim 2 and wherein each upright is rectangularly elongated, said cable means extending up and down each upright, fixed end pulleys in each upright and around which said cable means ride, each slidable pulley being disposed between said end pulleys for selective vertical action and rotating action therebetween, the respective closed circuits riding on the slidable pulleys in opposite directions when the slidable pulleys are rotated.

4. A window cleaning device according to claim 3 and wherein each of said cleaning blades is formed with cutaway and narrowed ends for reaching normally inaccessible portions -of the window by being rotated.

5. A window cleaning device according to claim 4 and including liquid cleaning means, said last named means including a rubber bulb and two tubular flexible extensible conduits extending therefrom to and up to the respective uprights, the remote end of said conduits being interconnected to said cleaner blade arms for travel therewith.

6. A window cleaning device according to claim 5 and wherein said platform is formed with grooves, one of said conduits extending through one of said platform grooves, and xed housings on the respective ends of said platform, said uprights extending through the respective housings and being pivoted thereto, and said housings enclosing said at rack gears and said arcuate gear segments.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,219,401 3/1917 Katow 15-250.11 1,583,346 5/1926 Felgner 15-103 2,040,644 5/1936 Conty 15-250.11

CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner. 

1. A WINDOW CLEANING DEVICE FOR CLEANING BOTH SIDES OF A WINDOW SIMULTANEOUSLY, SAID DEVICE COMPRISING A FRONT UPRIGHT, A REAR UPRIGHT, A FIRST CLEANING BLADE SLIDABLY MOUNTED ON SAID FRONT UPRIGHT FOR SLIDING ACTION RELATIVE THERETO, A MANUALLY OPERATED HANDLE CONNECTED TO SAID FIRST CLEANING BLADE, A SECOND CLEANING BLADE SLIDABLY CONNECTED TO SAID SECOND UPRIGHT, CABLE MEANS INTER-CONNECTING SAID CLEANER BLADES WHEREBY ACTUATION OF SAID FIRST CLEANING BLADE IS DUPLICATED BY SAID SECOND CLEANING BLADE, A BOTTOM PLATFORM, EACH OF SAID UPRIGHTS BEING SWINGABLY CONNECTED TO RESPECTIVE ENDS OF SAID PLATFORM, SAID UPRIGHTS BEING SWINGABLE RELATIVE TO SAID PLATFORM IN A VERTICAL PLANE AND IN RESPECTIVELY OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS, MANUAL SWINGING OF SAID FRONT UPRIGHT IN ONE DIRECTION AUTOMATICALLY PRODUCING SWINGING OF SAID REAR UPRIGHT IN AN OPPOSITE DIRECTION IN THE SAME VERTICAL PLANE, A FLAT RACK GEAR ON SAID PLATFORM, A DRIVING ARCUATE GEAR SEGMENT ON SAID FRONT UPRIGHT IN ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID RACK GEAR, A DRIVEN ARCUATE GEAR SEGMENT ON SAID REAR UPRIGHT, MEANS TO DRIVE SAID DRIVEN GEAR SEGMENT IN A DIRECTION OPPOSITE TO THAT OF SAID DRIVING GEAR SEGMENT WHEREBY SWINGING ACTION OF SAID FRONT UPRIGHT IS DUPLICATED IN AN OPPOSITE DIRECTION BY SAID REAR UPRIGHT. 